We are Gardeners
Eric Lemonholm
July 3, 2011
Proper 9 A – with alternate texts
Genesis 3:1-24; Matthew 11:16–19, 25–30
Last week, we heard the story of Genesis 2 – the creation of humankind, man and woman – Adam and Eve.
We heard how God – called Yahweh God in this story (remember, the LORD in all caps is a translation of the name Yahweh) – had lovingly sculpted humankind from the earth, so that we human beings are rightly called children of humus, children of the earth.
Yahweh God had planted a garden in Eden, and humankind was given the task of caring for the garden.
Our first occupation, our first calling as human beings was to be gardeners.
God had created human kind in God’s own image, and so just as God is a Community, so human beings are created to be in community with one another.
A community of equals, sharing in the care of the garden.
In the center of the Garden was the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And, there was only one explicit rule in the garden, spoken by God: do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”
The human beings lived in the garden, naked and unaware of their nakedness, unashamed, like little children.
That’s the background.
Sticking with the text at hand for a while, the serpent, the snake, was a crafty creature that, like many animals in old tales, could talk.
The serpent raises doubt in the woman’s mind.
The serpent contradicts God.
Whereas God had said that the people would die if they ate from the tree of knowledge, the serpent says:
“You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Now, people often call this scene “the Fall” even though it is not so named in the text; and people sometimes call this story “the origin of sin,” even though sin is not named in the text either.
During Lent, we heard a bit of this story, and I shared then that the woman actually shines brighter than the man.
When you read the text, the woman has to have good reasons to break the rule, while the man just takes the fruit and eats it when she gives it to him – verse 6:
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.
That sneaky snake has told the woman a half truth – which is often worse than a complete lie.
Speaking literally, it seems that the serpent was right.
The man and woman did not literally die when they ate the fruit.
And, their eyes were indeed opened.
They saw that they were naked, and they grew self conscious and tried to cover themselves with fig leaves.
They gained some knowledge of good and evil through their disobedience to God’s command.
When Yahweh God came walking in the garden in the cool of the evening, therefore, the couple tried to hide from God – hide their guilt and shame.
God is like a parent who has come home from work and wants to spend time with her children.
God is the one who reaches out, asking “Where are you?”
Where are you? I want to walk with you in the garden.
There had been a pure and simple relationship between God and the couple.
God enjoyed being in the garden with them.
They enjoyed being with God.
That pure intimacy was now broken, however, by the eating of the forbidden fruit.
The man and woman are now conscious that God is God, and they are humans.
They are aware of the difference between them, and that creates a distance between them.
Now they are afraid of meeting God.
They are like Ferris Bueller’s friend Cameron, waiting for his dad to come home and see that he ruined his dad’s classic Ferrari.
When God confronts them, neither the man nor the woman take responsibility for their actions.
The man blames the woman; the woman blames the snake.
Each of them receives a punishment.
The snake, it seems, loses its limbs and has to crawl in the dust on its belly.
The woman gets the labor pains of childbirth and the male dominance of a patriarchal society.
The man gets the labor pains of tilling the hard earth by the sweat of his brow.
Life will now be a struggle.
It is at this point that the woman is named by her husband.
Adam’s name means human, and Eve means life.
In the midst of meting out the consequences of their disobedience, Yahweh God loves Adam and Eve.
It is God who replaces their fig leaf outfits with protective leather garments.
It is God who commutes their death sentence to exile.
Yahweh God knows that they cannot remain in the garden.
God speaks to the divine court: “See, the human has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.”
Humanity has taken a step toward the divine through self conscious knowledge.
Now, immortality is within their grasp on the tree of life, so God sends them out of the garden, barring the only entrance with cherubim – sphinx-like creatures with a lion’s body, wings, and a human face – and a flaming sword.
The garden with the tree of life is like an ancient temple facing east, its sacred precincts guarded by cherubim and the sword.
There is no going back.
There is no going back to the Garden of Eden.
There is no going back to simple, un-self-consciousness.
There is no going back to that original, unmediated intimacy with God.
Humanity is moving toward civilization.
Human history has begun.
Religion, as humankind’s efforts to return to a lost intimacy with God, has begun.
But we do not despair.
Genesis is the beginning of the story of God and humanity.
God sends Adam and Eve out of the garden, but that is not the end of the story.
In the last two chapters of the Bible, we see the end of the story, which is really a new beginning.
This is the goal, the kingdom of God for which all creation groans and waits.
Listen to some of Revelation 21-22 (I did not read the whole passage):
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.2And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them;4he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”5And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”6Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.7Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children…
9Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”10And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.11It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.12It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites;13on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates …
22I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.23And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.24The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.25Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.26People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations…
22:1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb2through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.3Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him;4they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.5And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever…
20The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.
In the new heaven and the new earth, there is not just one guarded gate – there are 12 gates, and they never close.
Intimacy with God and with the Lamb – Jesus the Christ – will be restored, but not exactly as in the garden.
It will be better.
Humankind does not return to that earlier, simple state.
God makes all things new.
The New Jerusalem is a city, a community of people and all creation with God in their midst.
The tree of life gives its fruit year round, and its leaves heal the nations.
There will be no need for sun or moon, for God will be our light.
That’s the end of the story, the new beginning.
But between Adam and Eve’s exile from the garden and that glorious end, there is the rest of the story of God, God’s creation, and God’s people.
And that is where we live and move and have our being.
We are not in the garden, and neither are we in the New Jerusalem.
We are exiles, pilgrims on a journey to a new and better intimacy with God and God’s creatures.
We follow, not the deceitful snake but the Lamb who was slain for our sake and yet lives, Jesus our Lord.
Amen!
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